Tropical Storm Alberto, this season’s first named storm, weakened on Thursday as it moved inland over northeast Mexico. It brought heavy rains to parts of the dry region and tragically resulted in at least four deaths.
By afternoon, Alberto’s remnants were spread out over central Mexico, according to the National Hurricane Center.
However, forecasters noted that significant rainfall, amounting to several inches, was occurring inland in Mexico’s Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, and Coahuila states. The rainfall in South Texas was expected to diminish on Thursday.
After making landfall in Tampico, there was initial disappointment due to the limited amount of rainfall. Showers were sporadic in the early morning, with sunshine breaking through at times.
“We were hoping for rain because water is much needed here, but it seems to have gone elsewhere,” said Marta Alicia Hernández, a resident of Tampico.
Meanwhile, heavy rain inland caused damage in neighboring states like Nuevo Leon and Veracruz.
A man walks through the storm surge from Tropical Storm (Via Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Authorities in Nuevo Leon reported four deaths attributed to Alberto’s rains. They stated that one man died in the La Silla river in Monterrey, the state capital, and two minors died from electric shocks in Allende while riding a bicycle in the rain. A fourth man in El Carmen, Nuevo Leon, was electrocuted while trying to repair wires in the rain, according to civil protection officials.
In addition, water washed out a section of a major highway that connects Monterrey and Saltillo.
Governor Samuel García of Nuevo Leon announced on his social media account that metro and public transportation services in Monterrey would be suspended from Wednesday night until midday Thursday until the storm had passed.
Further south, in the state of Veracruz, heavy rains caused a retaining wall to collapse onto three buildings in the state capital of Xalapa, leaving 24 families homeless after days of continuous rainfall.
